The world between artificial intelligence and ecommerce is getting smaller, as OpenAI adds a new Shopify veteran to its ranks.

The move illustrates that the revolving door between a major ecommerce company and the most prominent name in artificial intelligence (AI) applications development is in motion.

In this case, the catalysts are Shopify, the ecommerce platform developer, and OpenAI, the artificial intelligence research company that produces services including ChatGPT and DALL-E. For its new hire, OpenAI has recruited Glen Worthington, formerly Shopify vice president of global support, as head of support.

OpenAI’s other Shopify recruits

Worthington joins former Shopify director of product development Miqdad Jaffer and other Shopify employees at OpenAI.

At OpenAI, Worthington will oversee all aspects of the user development experience.

Previously, Worthington oversaw 4,000 customer service personnel supporting more than three million Shopify customers, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before he was director of product development, Worthington also served as Shopify’s vice president and chief of staff. In addition, he spent time as a director and chief of staff.

OpenAI’s hiring of Worthington demonstrates the importance OpenAI is placing on user experience application development, according to the Swizterland-based IT consulting firm CTOL Digital Solutions. The company posted to its website that “OpenAI’s hiring of Glen Worthington signals a strategic focus on enhancing user operations and customer support.”

Worthington’s transition to OpenAI

Worthington shared the news about his new role publicly on April 5.

“I am incredibly excited to join OpenAI’s mission to bring safe and beneficial AGI [artificial general intelligence] to all of humanity,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “The opportunity to be part of something this deeply important to the world could not be more motivating for me, and I am grateful for the chance to work alongside some of the brightest minds building support systems for the most creative users on the planet.”

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